Collection of East Asian Art in the Dahlem Museums

The collection
Archaeological items, craft objects, painting and calligraphy from China and Japan are presented in individual galleries, as are ceramics from Korea. A central exhibition room is dedicated to items of Buddhist art common to all three cultures. Sculptures made of stone, metal or wood, cult objects and religious sculptures are on display here.
Chinese archaeology is represented with important ancient bronzes, early ceramics and objects made of jade. Characteristic examples of porcelain and lacquer-work are also on show. A small porcelain goblet from China, which dates from the early 17th century and once belonged to the art collection of the Electors of Brandenburg, is of particular cultural and historical significance. The examples of lacquer work include an imperial throne from around 1650 to 1675 with an accompanying screen. This masterpiece, made of palisander wood with an inlay of mother-of-pearl in a lacquer and gold base, will be on display in a special room of its own.
The most significant art of East Asia, painting and calligraphy, is based on organic materials which are highly sensitive to light and is hence presented in thematic temporary exhibitions alternating at regular intervals. Works from Imperial China and the 20th century are presented in individual exhibition rooms. Within the galleries for Japanese painting and calligraphy, the large-scale screens form a particular highlight. The Museum's important collection of graphic art, consisting predominantly of Japanese woodcuts, is also exhibited in an ever-changing series of temporary exhibitions.

A tea-room built by Japanese carpenters regularly functions as a space for "tea meetings". It illustrates the function of the ceramics and lacquer objects on display next door in hands-on fashion. The Klaus F. Naumann collection is housed in the neighbouring gallery.
Current trends of contemporary art are the subject of the New Art Space (Raum für Neue Kunst), which includes a video installation by the Korean artist Nam June Paik. A study collection on the upper floor presents a large number of objects offering a deeper insight into the collection. Film screenings in the video room and interactive screen presentations make for a full range of information facilities. Specially themed exhibitions complement the presentation of the collection.
History
In 1906 the director general of Berlin's Royal Museums, Wilhelm von Bode, recommended the founding of the East Asian art collection as the first collection of its kind in Germany. Prior to the Second World War the collection grew and achieved international renown as a result of an excellent acquisition policy and numerous private donations.
In October 1924 the first permanent exhibition rooms opened in the "Museum in der Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse" (the present-day Martin-Gropius-Bau). The end of the Second World War marked a dramatic break in the history of the collection. 90 per cent of the works were taken to the Soviet Union as "war booty" and have been retained ever since at the Eremitage in St Petersburg and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. A mere three hundred items belonging to the old collection returned to the museum after the war from places where they had been stored for safekeeping.
After the war, East Asian art was shown in two separate museums: in the Pergamon Museum on the Museum Island (from 1952 onwards) and in the museum in Dahlem (from 1970 onwards). The two collections were united in Dahlem in 1992. In the not too distant future, these collections - under the umbrella of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz - are intended to be relocated to the re-erected city palace close to the Museum Island in Berlin-Mitte.